The Fun Day Out
by NonsensicalCheshire
Summary: Nope, this wasn't exactly what Evergreen had wanted. A day out with her "future sisters-in-law" (would Bickslow stop saying that!) was bound to be awkward and tedious.


A/N: I had this idea that in an attempt to get closer with their hopefully-future-sister-in-law, Mira and Lisanna would try to take Evergreen out and have fun with her, which Ever would be sort of awkward about because normally she only hangs around her teammates and Laxus. Let's see how this goes.

. . . . . . . .

Evergreen walked into the guild hall, flanked by Fried and Bickslow, Laxus following behind lazily, and looked around. It was in chaos early today, she noted as she picked up a tray to deflect an incoming mug, thankfully empty, and Gray and Natsu were picking on Elfman for some reason. She began counting down the seconds until Laxus got fed up and stopped the fighting. She got up to ten seconds before he exploded and the three scattered for fear of his rage.

She sat down at a table and flipped open her book, holding her chin in one palm and fingering the pages with the other, and didn't notice when Laxus looked up at someone hovering over him, then looked at her, shrugged, and dragged Fried and Bickslow away. The brunette only realized that her boys had been replaced with two women when a cheery voice said her name. Evergreen jumped and nearly fell out of her chair.

"Mirajane? Lisanna?" The two sisters smiled at each other, then at her. "Can I… help you?"

Mira clasped her hands together in a business-like fashion and leaned forward. "As a matter of fact, you can." Her blue eyes sparkled and her white hair hung over one shoulder.

Ever's eyes lingered on the hair before she caught herself staring. Whenever she saw the signature white hair of the Strauss's, it reminded her of Elfman. She drummed her fingers anxiously on the table. "With what, may I ask?"

Lisanna stepped into the conversation. "Mira-nee and I are headed out tomorrow to go shopping, for some new furniture in particular. We were wondering if you wanted to come with us, offer your opinion. You seem to have spectacular taste."

They were trying to butter her up, there was no doubt about that. "Is… Elfman going to be there?" Were they trying to set the two up on a date?

Mira leaned forward across the table even more, very excited. "Why? Do you want him to be? I can ask him to come along, but-"

"No no!" Evergreen threw up her hands. "That won't be necessary, thank you." Ever put her hands down on the table, tracing lines in the wood. "Are you sure you want me to come along? I mean, I'm not really that interesting or fun. Sometimes I think that Fried and Bickslow barely tolerate me I'm so boring."

Lisanna waved a hand. "Oh, I'm sure that's not true. So? Would you like to come? Mira-nee and I would love to take you out!"

"Well…" She spared a look over at Elfman. He was talking to Laxus about something and looked fairly uncomfortable as Laxus leaned in and looked menacing. What was he doing, talking to him? He'd better not be scaring him off… If she was ever going to get up the courage to tell Elfman that she liked him and would love to go out with him, getting along with his sisters would be a good idea. "Sure, I think I would like to help you."

. . . . . . . .

Fried looked her over as he fiddled with her wavy hair. "I want you to look nice, Ever." He gathered the hair up in his hands in imitation of a ponytail and looked thoughtful. "You're going out with your to-be sisters-in-law, and you ought to look presentable."

"T-they might not be my sisters-in-law because I don't-"

"Like Elfman? Yeah, keep telling yourself that. Your lovesick, admit it. You don't eat all your dinner, you daydream twice as much as usual, and I think I've caught you looking at the wedding dress store once."

"N-no! I mean, I just, well, I really like the dresses in there! They're pretty!"

"You mean you think they'd be pretty on you~"

"Shut up! Laxus, Fried is teasing me again!" Evergreen complained to the man sitting at the table and eating his breakfast.

Laxus looked up from his food. "He's only telling the truth."

"Some help you are!"

Bickslow came in from the terrace, done with his morning stretches. "Oh, someone looks nice today." He tugged at the hair in Fried's hand. "Mira and Lisanna are gonna be very impressed with you."

Ever turned her head, somewhat unsuccessfully with her hair fisted in her best friends hands, and sniffed. "I'm a fairy, I always look nice."

Fried decided on leaving her hair down, but pinning up the sides. "You do look nice, he's right." Evergreen looked down at herself. She had settled on wearing a low cut maroon tank top, white jeans, and a black jacket. Fried pulled away, allowing her to stand and grab her brown messenger bag.

"Have fun," Laxus mumbled around a mouthful of toast. "Be nice to them, you don't want to screw it up with your future-"

"Don't say it!"

. . . . . . . .

Evergreen's boots _click click click_ed along the cobblestone path heading through Magnolia. She'd never been there, but the address Mira and Lisanna had given her the other day indicated that the Strauss home was somewhere towards the edge of town. So she took her time to take in her surroundings.

The streets were busy that day, the vendors working hard to keep up with all their customers, children running around while their parents shopped, and Evergreen couldn't think of a reason why it would be so busy. The nice girl who rung up her chocolate croissant at the bakery she regularly visited told her- there was a festival tonight and because of it just about everywhere was having sales.

Evergreen finished her pastry as she arrived at the address on the slip of paper the two younger women had given her. It was a modest place, nestled between two much bigger apartments, with a brown roof and white exterior, the windows concealed from the inside with curtains. She opened the gate and walked up the path heading to the door and knocked, then waited for a moment.

Elfman, dressed in jeans and a plain gray t-shirt, opened the door and jumped at the sight of her. "E-Ever?" She lifted a hand and pretended to adjust her glasses, when in reality she was hiding her blush from sight. "Why are you here?"

She managed to get her body temperature under control and took her hand away from her face. "Mira and Lisanna invited me to go furniture shopping with them. Did they not tell you?"

He opened the door wider for her, letting the small woman in, and wore a look of deep concentration and thought on his face. It was actually pretty cute to look at. "They might've, but I can't really remember."

Evergreen smiled and looked around. "You have a really nice home, Elfman." And he did. The light hardwood floors gleamed and were covered with a couple of rugs, there was a table set in the midst of a couple of couches and chairs in the living room, and the kitchen appeared very orderly- the countertops were practically sparkling and the tile was in the same condition. The only thing missing were chairs and a table.

Elfman walked up behind her. "If Nee-chan and Lisanna asked you to go furniture shopping with them, it's probably for that. Ours finally sort of… broke."

"Ahhhh." She turned on her heel and headed to the wall where pictures hung. "I see."

Just to tease him, Ever leaned in and tapped one- one of him when he was much younger, sitting at a table and reading a book. He looked awkward and nervous back then. Little Natsu and Gray were having a brawl behind him, so that might have been the cause for the look.

"Is this you?" she asked, pretending to be innocent. She turned her head with a smirk to see him, blanched and stuttering and adorable. "You were so cuuuuuute."

"Hey, I just- you're-" He was cut off when his two sisters stepped into the room. Mirajane, who wore a flower-printed skirt and button-up shirt, smiled brightly and rushed to hug her.

"Oh, you're here!" Mirajane grabbed her hands and held them in her own. "You're a little bit early, actually."

Her younger sister had opted for knee-length shorts and a light blue tank. "Well, the earlier we can go out, the better."

Before she knew what was happening, the two had dragged her out the door and into the bustling streets, leaving Elfman, still flustered, standing in the silent house, his mouth slightly open.

"…. You're the one who's cute."

. . . . . . . .

"Hmmmm…" Mirajane hummed as she observed a nice oak table. The three had been looking for three hours already. "Lisanna, Evergreen, what do you think of this one?"

The two leaned over her shoulders to look at it. Evergreen stepped around and traced the intricateness of the wooden legs. "I like it, but it's expensive, and your opinion is the one that matters the most. It's not going to be my table."

"Would Elf-nii-chan like it?" Lisanna asked no one in particular.

Mira kicked the table a few times. "Probably." She kicked it harder. "Hmmm… It seems sturdy, and that's the main thing I'm looking for."

"Well," Evergreen said from across the store. The two whirled around to see her by a bunch of chairs. "If you do decide to get that one, I really like these chairs with it. What do you two think?"

"Wow!" Lisanna dashed over and collapsed in one. "We were right to bring you along, you have great taste!" She stretched. "And these are comfy. Mira-nee, can we get these? I like things that are comfy."

Mira looked over, smiling warmly at her youngest sibling. "I suppose. I'm really liking this table, and those chairs do look very nice." She waved over an employee. "Hi, I'd like to purchase this table and those chairs over there. And you don't need to worry about having someone bring them to my address; my little brother will handle that!"

"Is Elfman like your pack mule or something?"

"Yeah, pretty much."

"Understandable."

. . . . . . . .

"Isn't today wonderful?" Mira asked, sipping at her tea. "Everyone is so happy and excited for the festival."

Evergreen looked over at her, idly stirring her pasta. "I've never even heard of this festival before. What is it for?"

"I hear that it's one that was established while we were on Tenrou for all that time," Lisanna said. "I think it's just a gathering with fireworks and flower-gazing."

"Sounds like a good time," Ever said.

Mira looked at her from the corner of her eye and set her cup down on it. "You don't really ask for a lot out of life, do you?"

Ever just about dropped her fork. Lisanna looked confused. "W-what do you mean?"

"It's like, there are people in this world who want everything. They want to have as much as possible and expect life to be fantastic and wonderful to them. There are people who go out of their way to get the things that they want, but you-" Mira smiled, maybe a bit sadly. "You're not like that. You don't seem to expect everything to be fantastic and wonderful, and you don't seem to want a whole lot of things."

Evergreen looked down at her lap. "I don't?" That's not really something she ever thought about. "Well, I suppose for the longest time life _wasn't _fantastic and wonderful at all. I had nothing. I was totally alone in life and completely depressed." _I wanted to die, _she thought to herself. She looked at her companions, both raptly staring at her. "That's all. There's nothing special about me that makes me that way. I just never expected to get anything out of life, and I suppose that's why I'm so mellow about it."

Lisanna smiled sympathetically. "I guess that makes sense."

Evergreen clenched her hands in her lap, where no one could see them. "Sorry, I just turned our fun day out into a serious, boring sort of thing." She pulled some money out of her bag. "Are you guys ready to go? I saw this flower shop down the street…"

. . . . . . . .

Evergreen hung behind as the Fairy Sisters talked and chattered excitedly about gossip in the guild; having had her social skills practically taught to her by Laxus and her teammates, she didn't care much for gossip. So she stopped in front of windows, sniffed her lilies and roses that she'd bought a small bouquet of, and smiled at the children disrupting the peace of the outdoor market.

"Evergreen?" She snapped her head around to see a confused Mirajane. "What are you doing all the way back there?"

"Oh." She quickened her pace. "I, um, you and Lisanna were pretty into that conversation; I didn't want to interrupt. Sorry."

"Interrupt? Perish the thought!" The white-haired wizard said. "For a second there we thought you didn't like us and didn't want to be seen with us."

"W-what, no, of course not!" How had she drawn such a drastic conclusion from such a small act as falling behind? "Fried and Bickslow just sort of taught me not to interrupt conversations…"

Lisanna smiled over at her. "You really learned a lot from them, right?"

"Well, of course. I was totally alone and social skill-less up until they found me. I'm sorry I fell behind, I just-"

"Stop him!" A voice cried. Evergreen stopped her sentence and looked behind her, her companions looking over her shoulder, and saw a man barreling down the path past them, carrying what looked like a bag of things. "Thief!"

Mira narrowed her eyes. "I've got th-"

"Lisanna dear, could you hold these?" Mira looked over, mildly surprised. Evergreen shoved her bag and flowers at the white-haired girl, who took them without question. She took off running swiftly, leaving them staring at her and wondering how she would catch up.

Ever's long legs carried her quickly through the crowd and within a minute she was grabbing the culprits shoulder and turning him around. Surprise flashed over his face and he threw a punch. She ducked and stomped on his foot. He winced , but didn't stop flailing his arms at her. Not enough force, the woman supposed.

Her eyes betrayed panic briefly when the thief dropped the stolen items and pulled out a knife on her, but returned to being calm as swiftly as they'd shown fear. The man leaped for her throat with the knife. _Amateur move, _she deduced as she held up her hand, letting the blade slip through her fingers and catching his knuckle. Ever twisted his wrist and the blade dropped, and she slung an arm over his shoulders and bent him over so that his stomach would meet her incoming leg with force. He coughed and fell over, clutching his stomach and retching. There. That was enough force.

"Evergreen! Hey!" Lisanna and Mirajane rushed towards her. She tilted her head and rubbed her finger- it had gotten nicked when the blade slipped through; stupid mistake- and waited for them to catch up.

"That was pretty awesome," was all Lisanna had to say as she leaned over the defeated man.

"And dangerous!" Mira waved a finger in Ever's face, who almost went cross-eyed at the action. "He had a knife! You could have been stabbed!"

"I'm a member of the Raijinshuu," she said proudly, "and I'm always prepared to handle situations such as that. A knife doesn't scare me, really." She put her hand up to her lips, putting her mouth against the small, but somewhat deep cut. Guess it was more than a nick. "I'm afraid I'm bleeding a bit, however."

"My word!" shrieked Mira, ever the dramatic one in a situation. "Are you all right? Do we need to take you to a doctor? Can you-"

Ever held up her hands. "Mira, Mira. It's no more than a papercut." Well, that was a bit of a lie, but she didn't want to get the sweet woman worked up. "I'll live."

Lisanna handed back her bag and flowers. "Mira-nee, you shouldn't freak out like that. We're wizards. Stuff like that doesn't really scare us, she's right." She turned to Evergreen with a warm smile. "That was very brave of you."

Evergreen smiled a little and watched as local law enforcement took away the thief. "It was nothing." She tossed a look back at Mira, who was still looking at her with quivering lips and puppy-dog eyes. How this woman was once known as the Demon Mirajane was beyond her. But she decided to have her fun with the woman's overreaction and stumbled forward.

"Oh no, I think the blade must have been poisoned. I'm dying, help…" She softened and made her voice strained at the last part, then leaned against a building. Mirajane shrieked again and began to cry tears that seemed a bit too exaggerated to Ever, but they were enough to get her to leap to her feet and frantically try to calm the S-Class.

By the time it had grown dark, the three carried a few bags each, having decided to waste time shopping with each other, and were sitting under a tree, waiting for the fireworks to start. Lisanna had purchased them a big plate of dango and they sat there against the trunk, eating and looking up at the sky excitedly.

"Well." Evergreen dropped her empty stick onto the plate. "Thanks for letting me hand out with you guys all day. It's way better then sitting at home, I'll admit."

"Oh, no problem!" Mirajane mumbled around a mouthful. "You're free to hang out with us or come over to our home whenever you want. We'll cook for you!"

Lisanna leaned over her sisters lap. "Hey, is that…"

"LISANNA!" Natsu was charging into the field. "MIRA AND EVERGREEN TOO! Didn't know you guys were gonna be here!"

"Oh." Mirajane looked around. "Natsu is here, so that means…"

"I've got dibs on that spot!"

"Bis, bring Asuka over here."

"The sky is so pretty!"

"It'll be even prettier when the fireworks start."

There was their guild, everyone laying out spots and fighting for areas in their rambunctious manner. Evergreen sighed and rested her cheek in her hand, amused but growing increasingly tired as the lively energy filled the area. "It ain't a party in Magnolia without our guild, is it?"

"Afraid not."

"Elfman!" Mira waved her little brother over. "Come sit with Evergreen and us!"

Evergreen shrank against the tree. "If you guys want more room, I'll leave… Fried and Bickslow are just over-" But she swears that from where they were sitting they were glaring at her and shaking their heads like, "No. No, you stay there." Jerks.

"No, you should stay with us." Lisanna smiled at her. "Might as well finish the day together, right?"

"… I suppose."

Elfman sat down next to his sisters. "How was your day?" he asked.

Evergreen chose to stay silent as Mira and Lisanna animatedly described their day and Evergreen's heroics (which she thinks exaggerated), knowing if she talked she would most likely trip over her words and such. When had she gotten so clumsy talking to people? _Since you fell in love with them, _she hears Fried's voice say in the back of her mind and she shoots him a glare from a few feet away, despite his not doing anything. He simply looks at her with a mouth full of food, bewildered, and shrugs in confusion. She rolls her eyes.

A sudden blast jolts her and she looks up to see the fireworks starting. "Wow," she said. "Pretty." Had she turned from the exploding lights in the sky, she probably would have seen Elfman staring at her. Mira shot him a knowing smile and he blushed and looked away from her.

The show over, it dissolved into a social event, everyone mingling and talking, couples holding hands and laughing. Juvia had fallen asleep with her head in Gray's lap while he fiddled with her hair. Gajeel gave him a suspicious look, much like how a brother would look at his sisters boyfriend. Gray, used to it, payed him no heed. Similar to Juvia, Evergreen had fallen asleep against Mira and Lisanna, both of whom were also dozing, tired after an event filled day.

Elfman looked over at them and smiled, delighted to see the three getting along.

"Hey." Elfman looked up. Laxus stood over him. Elfman shuddered, remembering their discussion earlier. _If you so much as hurt her, I swear on the name of Fairy Tail I will kill you. _The talk had come out of nowhere, but he assumed it was the awkward mans way of trying to convince him to talk to her. "I'm glad our girls are getting along." Elfman simply nodded as he bent over and slightly shook Ever.

"Ever. C'mon Ev, we're goin' now." She mumbled in protest. "Don't be stubborn, let's go." Groggily, she opened her eyes and rubbed at them from under her glasses. Laxus took her hands and dragged her up. "Up and at 'em, that's right." He slung an arm around her shoulder and guided her off, turning briefly to give Elfman a farewell nod.

The man watched her teammates walk off, then he heard a soft voice. "Elf-nii-chan." Lisanna had barely opened her eyes and sounded tired. There was a slight smile upon her lips.

"What is it?"

"After today, I know for sure." She snuggled up closer to Mira. "You chose well. Don't let her get away, please. I'd love-" She yawned. "I think I'd like to have her as family."


End file.
